¶Now in the fifteenth year[a] of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar,[b] Pontius Pilate being governor of
Judea,[c] and Herod (Antipas)[d]being
tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip[e]
tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch
of Abilene,

c The tetrarchy of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea was reorganized as the Roman province Iudaea, administered by Roman governors in Caesarea Maritima, after Herod Archelaus (see Mt. 2:22), fifth son of Herod the Great, was deposed by Augustus Caesar after ten years of misrule, 4 BCE-6 CE.

d Herod Antipas, sixth son of Herod the Great, ruled as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from his capital in Tiberias, 4 BCE-39 CE.

e Herod Philip, seventh son of Herod the Great, ruled as tetrarch of Iturea, Trachonitis, and Batanea from his capital in [Chalcis? Caesarea Philippi?], 4 BCE-34 CE. Mt. 14:3 and Mk. 6:17 misattribute him as the husband of Herodias; consequently, his half-brother, Herod II Boethus, Herodias' husband (see Mt. 14:3, Mk. 6:17), is known also as Herod Philip I, and Philip himself as Herod Philip II.

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!

John answered (them) all, saying, “I
indeed baptize you with water, but he comes the one who
is mightier than I is coming, of whom the latchet
of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen
untie[a] the strap of his sandals. He will
baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,

———

a Gk. λύω, to loosen or unbind. Untying the strap is equiv. to removing the sandals; cf. Acts 13:25 together with Acts 7:33.

but Herod the tTetrarch,[a]
being reproved[b] by him for Herodias,[c]
his brother’s[d]
wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

———

a Herod Antipas (see Lk. 3:1).

b See Mk. 6:18 and Mt. 14:4.

c Granddaughter of Herod the Great, daughter of Herod's third son Aristobulus IV, sister of Agrippa I (see Acts 12). After Herod had Aristobulus and his older brother Alexander executed in 7 BCE, he married her off to his fourth son Herod II, her half-uncle. Herod II fell out of the line of succession (see next note), and eventually she divorced him for Herod Antipas, also her half-uncle.

d Herodias was married to Herod II (a.k.a. Herod Boethus), fourth son of Herod the Great, older half-brother of Herod Archelaus (see Mt. 2:22), Herod Antipas, and Herod Philip (see Lk. 3:1). Herod II was removed from the line of succession after Herod discovered that his mother had been aware of a plot by Herod's eldest son, Antipater III, in 5 BCE, to poison Herod. Mt 14:3 and Mk. 6:17 misattribute Herodias as the wife of Philip (see note Lk. 3:1), which Luke corrects here.

¶Jesus himself, when he began (to teach), was
about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son
of Heli,[a]

———

a Luke's geneology is argued to be the geneology of Mary. Firstly, it differs from Matthew: whereas Matthew traces Jesus' geneology to David through David's successor Solomon, Luke traces the geneology to David through Solomon's older brother Nathan. Secondly, Luke tells his birth narrative from the perspective of Mary (see 1:26-56; 2:19; 2:48). Thirdly, Luke from the outset states that Jesus is only assumed to be the son of Joseph. John Lightfoot (1602-1675), in his A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica argues that son of Heli must be understood not to refer to Joseph, but to Jesus (and that Heli is Jesus' maternal grandfather), and the entire lineage through Adam must likewise be understood, such that son of God in 3:38 —which would be blasphemous if it referred to Adam—refers to Jesus, bringing Luke's narrative full circle back to 3:22 in which the voice out of Heaven declares to Jesus You are my beloved son. (To wit: Jesus, the supposed son of Joseph, is the son of Heli; the son of David; the son of Adam; and finally the son of God.)